Carsey exhibits Grand Champion fancy chickens

MIAMI COUNTY — With a surprised look on his face, Miami County Junior Fair King Keagan Carsey, 15, of Troy, gently picked up his Grand Champion trophy in one hand and his fancy Barred Rock chickens in the other.

“They were the first animals I’ve ever showed,” said Carsey in the poultry barn earlier this week. “I’ve shown them for seven years now. I’ve always enjoyed chickens more than any other animal because I’ve always done really well with chickens.”

Carsey said he enjoys the challenge of showing fancy breeds of chickens because of the standards and specifications judges look for in each bird.

“For me, they are a lot smaller and with chickens there’s a lot of standards to go through,” he said.

Carsey explained how rigid the standards are for the Barred Rock chickens, which are black and white striped with a red comb.

“They are black and white. If (judges) find a solid black feather you can get disqualified if you have more than two of them,” he explained. “There’s a lot of specific stuff you have to follow.”

Carsey also showed at the Ohio State Fair this year, and won Grand Champion with his clean-legged single comb chickens.

“Ohio State Fair is like a completely different experience because they have people come in from all over the state,” he said. “They also take care of your (chickens) for you like feeding and watering them. Where (Miami County Fair) you take care of all your animals yourself. It was kind of nice. It was a fun experience.”

Carsey represented the Miami East FFA in the annual fair king and queen contest last July. Carsey said he has enjoyed visiting other livestock and project shows during the fair as part of his royal duties. Carsey said he liked being able to see what other 4-H members were doing in their respective barns and shows.

“I’ve never been to a dog show. I’ve never been to a lot of the shows around the fair that I’ve gone to this week so that was a neat experience,” he said.

Carsey is the son of Casandra and Ryan Carsey.and he is a member of the Indian Creek 4-H Club.